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Summary: This report extracts mentions of children's rights issues in the reports of all UN Treaty Bodies and their follow-up procedures. This does not include the Concluding Observations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child which are available here: http://www.crin.org/resources/treaties/index.asp
Please note that the language may have been edited in places for the purpose of clarity.
- UN Human Rights Committee
- UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
- UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
- UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- UN Committee against Torture
- UN Committee on Migrant Workers
- UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- UN Committee on Enforced Disappearance
Signed in 2008, but not yet ratified.
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UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Signed in 2008, but not yet ratified.
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UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Ratified in 2004, but not yet reported.
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UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
CEDAW/C/COM/CO/1-4
Last reported: 10 October 2012
Concluding Observations issued: 8 November 2012
Issues raised:
Violence: The Committee expresses its deep concern at the results of the national qualitative study (2006) according to which one third of Comorian women are victims of violence either by their husbands or male relatives of their in-laws. It is deeply concerned that the majority of rape cases are settled “amicably.” It regrets that violence against women is considered a taboo and therefore a culture of silence prevails in the State party. It is concerned at the absence of accurate and updated data on cases of gender-based violence reported, as well as at the lack of information on the number of investigations, prosecutions and punishment of perpetrators of violence against women, including domestic and sexual violence. It is also concerned about the absence of information with respect to the availability of social support services, including shelters for victims and about the mandate of the Observatory on gender-based violence. Para 23.
24. Recalling its general recommendation No. 19 (1992) on violence against women, the Committee urges the State party to continue and strengthen its collaboration with the United Nations agencies and development partners in order to:
(a) Elaborate and adopt a comprehensive law on violence against women, which recognizes that such violence is a form of discrimination against women and therefore constitutes a violation of their human rights under the Convention, and ensure that the legislation criminalizes all forms of violence against women, including rape;
(b) Develop a national strategic action plan for the prevention of all forms of violence against women, protection of victims and punishment of perpetrators and ensure its full implementation;
(c) Conduct awareness-raising campaigns to encourage reporting of domestic and sexual violence against women and girls and ensure that all such reports are effectively investigated and that perpetrators are prosecuted and punished adequately;
(d) Provide systematic training on women’s rights and on combating violence against women, including domestic and sexual violence, for judges, prosecutors, lawyers and police officers as well as for health professionals;
(e) Ensure that there is an adequate number of shelter facilities and that together with established counselling centres for women victims of violence, there is a provision of adequate assistance and protection to victims, in particular psychosocial rehabilitation at the national and island level;
(f) Collect comprehensive statistical data on violence against women, disaggregated by sex, age and relationship between the victim and perpetrators;
(g) Provide detailed information about the mandate and activities of the Observatory on gender-based violence.
Trafficking: The Committee regrets the lack of information about the extent of the phenomenon of trafficking in persons and exploitation of prostitution in the State party. It expresses its concern about the lack of a legislative framework on trafficking in persons. It notes that prostitution is illegal in the State party and regrets the lack of information on the existence, if any, of a regulatory framework to combat the exploitation of prostitution. Para 25.
26. The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Conduct assessments on the extent of trafficking in persons and exploitation of prostitution and provide information of their results in its next periodic report;
(b) Develop and implement a national plan to combat trafficking in persons, in line with the Convention and ratify the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (Palermo Protocol);
(c) Adopt a regulatory framework to combat the exploitation of prostitution, as well as measures aimed at discouraging male demand for prostitution, provide women with economic alternatives to prostitution as well as assistance, rehabilitation and reintegration programmes for women and girls exploited in prostitution.
Education: The Committee acknowledges the implementation of the Education and Training Policy Framework (2005-2009) in the State party. However, it is concerned at the high illiteracy rate of women (64.8 -per cent) in the age group of 15-24 years. It is concerned that 55 per cent of the total children between 6 and 14 years who are out of school are girls as well as at the lack of alternative ways to accommodate these girls in the education system. It is further concerned about the gender disparity in primary and secondary school and about the alarming and consistent dropout rates of girls in secondary school. It is also concerned at the lack of information about the causes, which impede adolescent girls’ access to education such as negative gender stereotypes, sexual harassment at school, teenage pregnancies and early marriages. Para 29.
30. The Committee urges the State party to enhance its compliance with article 10 of the Convention and raise awareness of the importance of education as a human right and as the basis for the empowerment of women. To that end, it urges the State party to:
(a) Take measures to expand capacity, particularly for the 6 to 14-years-old age cohort;
(b) Identify and implement measures to reduce the gender disparity in primary and secondary school, in particular to prevent dropouts among adolescent girls as well as alternative measures to accommodate girls between 6 and 14 years in the school system;
(c) Address causes of the high dropout rates of adolescent girls from school such as gender stereotypes, poverty and sexual harassment in school, teenage pregnancies and early marriages;
(d) Revise the school curriculum in order to eliminate stereotypes which impede girls’ wide curriculum options and career paths;
(e) Improve the literacy rate of women through the adoption of comprehensive programmes for formal and non-formal education and training.
Child custody: The Committee notes the coexistence of the three systems of law (civil, Islamic and customary) regulating marriage and family relations in the State party, however, it is concerned that this situation results in the deep and persistent discrimination against women on issues such as the right to freely choose a spouse, child custody, division of property acquired during the marriage and inheritance. It is particularly concerned at the lack of information with respect to measures taken to abolish de jure and de facto polygamy, which is permitted by the Family Code. It is concerned that women requesting no-fault divorce are required to pay compensation (khol) to their husbands, while the same is not required from men. It is also concerned that the separate property regime in place and the infrequent payment of alimonies, leave divorced women in a disadvantageous position since they are often left alone with the responsibility to bring up their children. Para 39.
40. The Committee calls upon the State party to ensure equality between women and men in marriage and family relations by:
(a) Carrying out a comprehensive review process of its legal system and repeal existing discriminatory provisions against women within civil, Islamic and customary laws so as to guarantee that these bodies of law are harmonized with the Convention, and set up a clear time frame for the completion of such review process;
(b) Abolishing polygamy in accordance with the Committee’s general recommendation No. 21 (1994) on equality in marriage and family relations.
Health: The Committee takes note of the National Health Policy and its implementation plan. It is concerned, however, that according to the Health Code of the State party, health-care services provided by public health facilities are not free of charge. The Committee is also concerned that a large number of women do not have access to health-care services because of poverty and lack of financial resources available to them. It expresses its concern at the high maternal mortality rate (380/100,000), despite policies and programmes in place to reduce it, and at the lack of detailed information about programmes in place to ensure effective pre-and postnatal care and access to family planning and contraceptives for women. It notes the low prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the State party, including among pregnant women, but regrets the lack of information with respect to the status of the bill on the protection of persons living with HIV/AIDS and the Multisectoral HIV strategic plan. Para 33.
34. The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Take all necessary measures to improve women’s access to health care including reproductive health care and related services within the framework of the Committee’s general recommendation No. 24 (1999) on women and health, by ensuring women’s free health care and access to the cooperative health insurance scheme in place;
(b) Strengthen the measures in place to reduce the incidents of maternal mortality, and to provide training to medical and health professionals in order to ensure that women are assisted and treated by trained health-care personnel, especially in rural areas;
(c) Strengthen and expand efforts to increase knowledge of and access to affordable contraceptive methods throughout the country and ensure that women and girls, especially in rural areas, do not face barriers to accessing family planning information and services;
(d) Expedite the adoption of the bill on the protection of persons living with HIV/AIDS, and provide detailed information in its next periodic report on the implementation of the Multisectoral HIV/AIDS strategic plan and results achieved.
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UN Committee against Torture
Signed in 2000, but not yet reported.
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UN Committee on Migrant Workers
Signed in 2000, but not yet ratified.
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UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Signed in 2007, but not yet ratified.
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UN Committee on Enforced Disappearance
Signed in 2007, but not yet ratified.